OG1mY TIL an older theory held that individual giraffes stretched their necks to reach higher leaves. However, modern evolutionary biology attributes this trait to natural selection, where individual giraffes with relatively longer necks survived and passed this attribute to their offspring.
69nOX TIL that the Three Hundred and Thirty-Five Years War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly lasted from 1651 to 1986 and reportedly had zero casualties
wovQo TIL dogs can smell cancer. A dog’s nose is so powerful it can detect tiny chemical changes in your breath, sweat, or urine caused by certain cancers. In some studies, trained dogs identified cancers like breast and lung cancer with accuracy similar to medical tests
R5JQ7 TIL On March 12th, 1951 the Dennis the Menace comic strip debuted in the United States. On the exact same day, a completely unrelated Dennis the Menace comic strip with a completely different character was released in the UK, purely by coincidence.
W7AWY TIL about Gigantothermy, a thermoregulation strategy wherein large ectothermic animals (e.g., dinosaurs) maintain stable, high body temperatures due to their low surface-area-to-volume ratio, which minimizes heat loss. This allows creatures to remain warm without a high-energy metabolism.
9wRRG TIL there is a shocking amount of abuse of animals in the furry community
nWZZb TIL that during the Vesuvius volcanic eruption, a man's brain was transformed into glass. The intense ash cloud, exceeding 500 degrees Celsius, liquefied the brain tissue, which then rapidly cooled and solidified, preserving it within the skull.
4kxx5 TIL that Eris was described initially as the tenth planet of the solar system after Pluto by NASA, motivated the IAU to define the term 'planet' for the first time. The new definition thus revoked the planet status of Pluto, Eris and Ceres naming them 'dwarf' planets.
x6DDw TIL: The "reptilian brain" refers to the human basal ganglia and brainstem, the oldest evolutionary part of the human brain (inner core) responsible for primitive survival functions. It controls instinctual auto behaviors like breathing, heart rate, territoriality, and aggression
5V44p TIL that President James Madison initially offered exiled French General Jean Victor Moreau command of the US Army in the War of 1812. Moreau considered the offer before ultimately choosing to return to Europe to fight against Napoleon in the War of the sixth Coalition.
M755a TIL that driving instructors have a deep psychological desire to wave at each other even when they don’t know each other. This is perhaps the most British thing I’ve ever seen.
j6YYa TIL that a TV show in the mid-1970s (Emergency!, which ran from 1972 through 1977) was notably impactful on encouraging the growth of EMS systems across the United States. Prior to this era, ambulances, which had been available for decades, were only able to provide basic first aid.